Varty's beautiful description of the wildlife and scenery on the Londolozi Game Reserve made me feel for the first time that an African safari would really be worth doing. Like most, I've only ever seen these animals in zoos, and his loving discussion of his relationship with wild animals is fascinating! I loved reading all of his stories about his family's encounters with nature. While I must say that in reality I am not particularly outdoorsy and would find incidents like baboons rifling through my rooms horrifying, I really enjoyed living vicariously through Varty's anecdotes. He also does an excellent job of introducing and coloring his human characters. And this book is an uplifting tale about the restorative power of nature. It may have taken Varty some time away from it to miss it, but it cannot be denied that nature provides a powerful sense of both respite and belonging.—Caitlin Loder, Oxford, MS

I was absolutely enthralled by Cathedral of the Wild. Varty's writing style is so effortless and filled with such imagery, I found myself picturing the wilds of Africa and imagining this amazing Varty family and the locals who run the Londolozi Game Reserve. Varty weaves in moments of humor and of heartbreak. The memoir is also filled with wonderful history about South Africa, including the people and the animals that live in this magical land.—Marissa Stellwag, Riverside, NJ

In rich, vivid detail, Varty describes his upbringing in the South African bush veld, on Londolozi, his family's nature and game reserve in the remote wilderness. Varty writes stories full of humor, drama, and warmth about his upbringing—not limited to his encounters with elephants, leopards, and hippos, either; we read about the time Nelson Mandela spent with his family at Londolozi, about serving as his Uncle John's documentary film-making apprentice, and about his growing experience as an animal tracker.—Paige Scofield Contijoch, Philadelphia, PA

Could this man's life be any more fascinating? Growing up among all manner of critters and beasts that most people try to avoid, having unconventional and amazingly resourceful parents and a nutty filmmaker uncle, routinely taking on adult responsibilities at a young age. What an extraordinary, fun childhood. So it is startling when this existence is interrupted by a home invasion that sets Varty on a course of travel that finds him back where he began, but with new, ambitious plans for his family's land.—Valerie Wieland, Peoria, IL

Varty's parents teach that you can often predict the behavior of animals based on their actions. Sadly the same is not true of humans and one of the memoir's scariest moments comes when he and his family are robbed. But some of the memoir's best moments come from human contact as well, because Varty has a gift for capturing the essence of a person's being, whether he's talking about his family or the great Nelson Mandela.—Gena Hymowech, Brooklyn, NY

The Ogallala Road is both a modern tale of the West and a nostalgic reflection on how it came to be. Old farming ways have taken their toll on the Kansas plains, draining the land of its most precious life force: water. Bair writes best when she describes the land itself; she is its voice, its defender, and ultimately, its protector. Her family's lifelong commitment to the land also contributed to its deterioration, and Bair must reconcile this legacy with her own determination to do things differently. At times preachy and repetitive, Bair still manages to capture the indomitable spirit of the West and our connection to the land itself.—Maria MacNamara, Chicago

Julene Bair's The Ogallala Road is a simple yet beautiful memoir that reads like a diary but then moves into a study on the overuse of the Ogallala aquifer, and the depletion of the groundwater. I never once thought I would be interested in the aquifers of the Midwest, but I found myself completely captivated by the issue, and by the dilemma Bair faced as a farmer's child while being an activist for the appropriate usage of water in farming. She contemplates her family's own usage of the aquifers on the farm, holding a tremendous guilt, but she also knows this was her family's legacy—it's a tough place. The memoir also rounds itself out with a bittersweet love story. All in all, it was a great read.—Marissa Stellwag, Riverside NJ

I found this book to be difficult to get into, but once Bair got into her relationship with Ward Allbright—the sensitive, bookish cowboy that Bair never would have imagined herself being with in her younger years—the book picked up. The driving force behind Bair's story, though, is her complicated relationship with her father, who was always telling his children about their land, "It's not easy to acquire it, so hang on to it, goddamn it. A lot of sacrifice went into getting it and keeping it. Don't fritter it away!"—Paige Scofield Contijoch, Philadelphia, PA

This book opens with Bair visiting the Ogallala aquifer for research she is conducting, as well as her first meeting with a future boyfriend. The story unfolds as the author shares stories about the different parts of her life—living in the wilderness, failed love affairs, moving to Kansas to raise her son as a single mom, meeting her current boyfriend, and becoming passionate about water conservation. Personally, I was much more interested in other parts of the book, such as the personality of her father and his relationship with the land, as well as his children's feelings toward the land, heavily influenced both by their father and by their own guilt.—Laura Scott, Willow Grove, PA

I applaud the author's stands on the environment, irrigation and organic farming, but I kept getting the feeling she took a collection of essays, then morphed them into a memoir by adding a little sex, romance and family dynamics. Her hit and miss relationship with Ward became more intriguing than her water crusade.—Valerie Wieland, Peoria, IL

May takes us on a journey from New York City to a remote basin near Bozeman, Montana, where she and her fiancé, Chris, constructed their Mongolian-style dwelling called a yurt with their own hands, completing it just in time for their first winter at the base of the Gallatin Range. The Map of Enough, one woman's search for place, could also be titled How Do We Choose To Live?—Loretta Blum, Farmington Hills, MI

I loved May's theme of personal growth and self-discovery. As a young person struggling to forge my own identity, to figure out how I want to build my life, I really like these types of stories. I found myself feeling so proud of Molly and Chris as they built not only their yurt but also the next phase of their life together. Travel and variety can offer different forms of adventure, but there is something to be said for accepting the excitement of the small things. I loved the feeling of calm that nature provided in this story. I do tend to be more of a city girl, but there is certainly something to be said for retreating into nature. It sounded immensely peaceful and beautiful. The back of the book compares it to Wild, another self-discovery-in-nature book, but I actually preferred this one.—Caitlin Loder, Oxford, MS

Map of Enough is a very introspective memoir; the author gives us full access to her thoughts, which are often very intense and filled with a deep longing to know the self and find the place where the self belongs. Through the author's insightfulness and longing, the reader is beckoned to think about place on a personal level. May's prose reads like poetry and is rich with vivid and detailed descriptions.—Laura Scott, Willow Grove, PA

Readers will often feel frustrated with The Map to Enough, confused by May's restlessness and inability to stay put in one place. One often wonders if May's refusal to settle is less a symptom of wanderlust and more an escape from personal unrest from within. At times spoiled and entitled, May is often enabled by the people who surround her. Uncertainty aside, this is the story of how she finally finds "home," a place to put roots and build foundations, a future to which she'll commit. Her examination of what "home" means is both insightful and reflective and will particularly resonate with readers of a younger generation.—Maria MacNamara, Chicago

Sometimes there is too much detail and the language is occasionally clunky, but in its best moments, The Map of Enough is moving, poetic, and addictive. May's sense of wonder at her new world and adventurous spirit is admirable and contagious, but even more important is the way she inspires us to question our own deeply-held beliefs about home and happiness.—Gena Hymowech, New York City